History Main / AmbitionIsEvil

** According to writer David Benioff, Stannis chooses ambition over family in "The Dance of Dragons".

to:

** According to writer David Benioff, Stannis chooses ambition over family in "The Dance of Dragons". Given Stannis's general [[TheDutifulSon characterization]] [[TheMenFirst before]] [[GoodParents said]] [[PrinciplesZealot episode]], this explanation has been [[BrokenBase contested]], to say the least.

* Mehrunes Dagon of Franchise/TheElderScrolls is the Daedric Prince of Destruction... and of Ambition. He is also the only Daedra to have been the BigBad of ''two'' games, ''and'' one of those games indicates him to have been the GreaterScopeVillain for a third. He tends to favour destruction, but the fact that one of the few Princes that pretty much everyone agrees is evil is associated with ambition is rather telling.

to:

* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, Ambition specifically falls within the sphere of Mehrunes Dagon Dagon, the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Prince]] of Franchise/TheElderScrolls is [[DestroyerDeity Destruction]]. While none of the Daedric Prince Princes are truly "evil", instead operating on their own scale of Destruction... BlueAndOrangeMorality, Dagon is certainly one of the most malevolent toward mortals and of Ambition. He is also near-universally regarded as evil as a result. Dagon has served directly as the only Daedra BigBad of two games in the series (''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' and the DungeonCrawl spin-off game ''Battlespire'') and is later revealed to have been the BigBad of ''two'' games, ''and'' one of those games indicates him to have been the GreaterScopeVillain ManBehindTheMan[=/=]GreaterScopeVillain for a third. He tends to favour destruction, but the fact that one of the few Princes that pretty much everyone agrees is evil is associated with ambition is rather telling.''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsArena Arena]]''.

* Mehrunes Dagon of Franchise/TheElderScrolls is the Daedric Prince of Destruction... and of Ambition. He is also the only Daedra to have been the BigBad of ''two'' games, ''and'' one of those games indicates him to have been the GreaterScopeVillain for a third. He tends to favour destruction, but the fact that one of the few Princes that pretty much everyone agrees is evil is associated with ambition is rather telling.

* Wolfgang of ''[[VideoGame/{{Growlanser}} Growlanser II]]'' aspires to create a democratic territory for his fellow mercenaries, who are only of use to the current reigning kingdoms in times of war. However, achieving this goal requires deceit, trickery, and fighting against the game's protagonists.* PlayedForDrama in [[EnergyBeing Xerath's]] backstory in ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends''. Originally a child slave of the ancient [[TheEmpire Shurima empire]], all his life he only desired to be free. He would eventually save the life of the young Emperor Azir, who promised him his freedom, and would go on to be educated, taught magic and become the Emperor's top adviser. However, he never gained the freedom he was promised, and [[SlaveLiberation eventually turned to scheming to take freedom]]. However, just as his schemes were about to bear fruit, [[PoorCommunicationKills Azir finally kept his promise and revealed he always intended to, just waiting for the right moment]]. Xerath, unable to do anything to stop the destruction of Shurima he had set in motion, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone could only silently weep at what was about to happen]]. [[SealedEvilInACan He was then sealed away in a tomb for several thousand years by Nasus and Renekton before escaping into the present time]] [[TheUnfettered determined never to lose his freedom again]].

* In ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', the BigBad, Ganondorf lead an expedition to the Sacred Realm in order to acquire the Triforce, a creation of the three goddesses that could grant unlimited power to the one who has it. However, when he touched it, the Triforce separated into three parts, as it would only remain intact for those whose hearts value Power, Wisdom, and Courage equally. Ganondorf only received one piece of the whole: the Triforce of Power, as he only valued Power and wanted to TakeOverTheWorld. Meanwhile, the other two pieces, the Triforce of Courage and Triforce of Wisdom, went to the heroes: Link and Princess Zelda respectively. Thus, in all games in the series, it is the job of the various Links and Zeldas to stop Ganondorf from gaining the full Triforce so his ambitions can come to fruition.* From ''VideoGame/SandsOfDestruction'':** Subverted by Pistris Rex. While his sole motive for holding the peace talks is to secure a better seat for himself on the counsel of beastlords, he's perfectly reasonable and willing to make genuine strides for peace. [[spoiler:Too bad the Front decided to send in ''Kyrie'', who's known to not have complete control of his powers, as their representative, and the Crimson Sun picked ''that moment'' to active his Destruct Code.]]** Eventually played straight by [[spoiler:Lacertus Rex]]. His ambition to destroy and remake the world to his liking lead to [[AGodAmI delusions of godhood]].

* Mehrunes Dagon of Franchise/TheElderScrolls is the Daedric Prince of Destruction... and of Ambition. He is also the only Daedra to have been the BigBad of ''two'' games, ''and'' one of those games indicates him to have been the GreaterScopeVillain for a third. He tends to favour destruction, but the fact that one of the few Princes that pretty much everyone agrees is evil is associated with ambition is rather telling.* From ''VideoGame/SandsOfDestruction'':** Subverted by Pistris Rex. While his sole motive for holding the peace talks is to secure a better seat for himself on the counsel of beastlords, he's perfectly reasonable and willing to make genuine strides for peace. [[spoiler:Too bad the Front decided to send in ''Kyrie'', who's known to not have complete control of his powers, as their representative, and the Crimson Sun picked ''that moment'' to active his Destruct Code.]]** Eventually played straight by [[spoiler:Lacertus Rex]]. His ambition to destroy and remake the world to his liking lead to [[AGodAmI delusions of godhood]].* PlayedForDrama in [[EnergyBeing Xerath's]] backstory in ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends''. Originally a child slave of the ancient [[TheEmpire Shurima empire]], all his life he only desired to be free. He would eventually save the life of the young Emperor Azir, who promised him his freedom, and would go on to be educated, taught magic and become the Emperor's top adviser. However, he never gained the freedom he was promised, and [[SlaveLiberation eventually turned to scheming to take freedom]]. However, just as his schemes were about to bear fruit, [[PoorCommunicationKills Azir finally kept his promise and revealed he always intended to, just waiting for the right moment]]. Xerath, unable to do anything to stop the destruction of Shurima he had set in motion, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone could only silently weep at what was about to happen]]. [[SealedEvilInACan He was then sealed away in a tomb for several thousand years by Nasus and Renekton before escaping into the present time]] [[TheUnfettered determined never to lose his freedom again]].* In ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', the BigBad, Ganondorf lead an expedition to the Sacred Realm in order to acquire the Triforce, a creation of the three goddesses that could grant unlimited power to the one who has it. However, when he touched it, the Triforce separated into three parts, as it would only remain intact for those whose hearts value Power, Wisdom, and Courage equally. Ganondorf only received one piece of the whole: the Triforce of Power, as he only valued Power and wanted to TakeOverTheWorld. Meanwhile, the other two pieces, the Triforce of Courage and Triforce of Wisdom, went to the heroes: Link and Princess Zelda respectively. Thus, in all games in the series, it is the job of the various Links and Zeldas to stop Ganondorf from gaining the full Triforce so his ambitions can come to fruition.

** The only trait Cersei inherited from her Lord father and her brothers didn't. Never satisfied with her station in life, she is by far the most power-hungry of the Lannister siblings, always equating power with victory, no matter the cost.

* Averted in FanFic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality, where Harry's ambition to become omnipotent and benevolently reorganize reality is fully endorsed by the Author.

to:

* Averted in FanFic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality, ''FanFic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'', where Harry's ambition to become omnipotent and benevolently reorganize reality is fully endorsed by the Author.

** Indeed, this is why the One Ring is kept in the hands of hobbits. A ruler like Aragorn or Galadriel might have the ambition of restoring their kingdom into an immortal empire, and a wizard like Gandalf or Saruman might have the ambition of vanquishing evil across the world, desires that are so amazing in scale, so tempting, and so altruistic at first glance that they're hard to turn down and easy to corrupt. On the other hand, hobbits are so bucolic and easygoing that their big ambition is probably no more impressive than than "I could use a bigger pantry", leaving the Ring nothing to work with.

** After watching his dynasty nearly ruined by his ineffectual father, Tywin Lannister's dream is to "establish a dynasty that will last a thousand years," and he will do anything, no matter how vicious, to maintain his family's greatness.

to:

** After watching his dynasty nearly ruined by his ineffectual father, Tywin Lannister's dream is to "establish a dynasty that will last a thousand years," and he will do anything, no matter how vicious, to maintain his family's greatness.greatness and is ruthless when playing the game of thrones. Robert is even more generous, summing Tywin's goal up as "wanting to own the world". His outsize ambition is the main reason why he doesn't get along very well with his children — in his eyes, they've done nothing with their lives without his help or name, or at least so he believes. He approves of Jaime's great skill as a MasterSwordsman but is disappointed that he doesn't apply himself. As for Cersei, he feels that she didn't do enough in her position as Queen and did a poor job raising Joffrey. As for Tyrion, from his perspective Tyrion was content to spend all his time drinking and whoring until Tywin appointed him Hand and later Master of Coin. From Tyrion's perspective, he hardly ever got opportunities because his father kept insulting him with tasks like manage the cisterns of Casterly Rock and even when Tyrion did great at that, hardly considers it indicative of any talent.

*The DCAU version's of batman is this. he was driven by a noble but unrealistic cause to rid all crime from Gotham city which ultimately caused him to alienate the people closest to him and by Batman Beyond, all his vision got him was living utterly alone in a city that is even worse off then when he was still batman.

* Notably inverted in the philosophy of the [[ChurchMilitant Derethi]] religion of ''Literature/{{Elantris}}'', which holds that ambition is a ''virtue'', at least so long as one doesn't put one's personal ambitions ahead of the goals of the Derethi church. The rest of the world would likely see this trope as played straight, however, considering the general [[CorruptChurch reputation]] of the Derethi.

* All Tom Weathers, from the ''WildCards'' series, really wants to do is use his [[SuperpowerLottery immense power]] to make the world a better place. Using his ''personal'' definition of "better", of course: a purely Communist state run along traditional lines... including thought police and the elimination of dissidents. As he puts it, "You can't make an omellette without breaking some eggs", and if the "eggs" in question just happen to be a village full of innocent men, women, and children, all of whom must be killed by their own government so that they can blame another country and start a war, then so be it.

to:

* All Tom Weathers, from the ''WildCards'' ''Literature/WildCards'' series, really wants to do is use his [[SuperpowerLottery immense power]] to make the world a better place. Using his ''personal'' definition of "better", of course: a purely Communist state run along traditional lines... including thought police and the elimination of dissidents. As he puts it, "You can't make an omellette without breaking some eggs", and if the "eggs" in question just happen to be a village full of innocent men, women, and children, all of whom must be killed by their own government so that they can blame another country and start a war, then so be it.

Community

Tropes HQ

TVTropes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org. Privacy Policy